Feel Free

I am really excited to share this video with you, because it’s crude, playful, and one of the MOST USEFUL things I do for my very active mind! I call it a Brain Dump and I explain it all in the video!!!!! I am using this exercise on the road almost every time I sit down to do any work, sometimes multiple times a day to get clear.

Sometimes the mind gets so filled with things that we can’t sort any of them out. At times all I can hear is a rotating to do list. Other times, all I can hear are days old regrets or relationship snafus I want to make amends on but with which I’m dragging my feet.

There are so many things that we “keep track of” inside our minds that just become clutter. The Brain Dump practice helps me really see what I am trying to navigate. It’s all about the holistic approach here, not just listing the to-dos that need to be done, but also writing down the emotional, spiritual, and creative swirling.

In short — take a stack of papers and the mission is to put whatever goes through your mind into written form so as to ease the internal running amuck and anxiety.

As you know, my wife Kim and I are on the road. It’s been just over a month now and we are currently in beautiful Wyoming. We saw the biggest Moon halo I have ever seen! I invite you to tap in and invite this Moon to bless you. Here’s a sample prayer:

Mama Moon!!!
I welcome your blessings!
Inspire and fill me with new visions and possibility and relief from old constraints that keep me from my fullest expression in a compassionate and gentle way!
Ashe! A-ho! Amen!

On the theme of INSPIRING we have a very special treat for you. Kim and I are doing some interviews with just a few of the amazing people we are blessed to be staying with and seeing.

Get excited — to introduce our first interview — I give you my remarkable wife Kim!

Hi!

We’ve been traveling for a little over a month now, and along the way we have the great privilege of spending time with brilliant minds whose works are direct expressions of healing.

We thought it would be beneficial (and fun!) for you to get a glimpse into the heads of these healers, learn more about how they do what they do, and hopefully be inspired to do stuff too.

Our first interview is with American singer songwriter David Wilcox. Sometimes referred to as a folk legend, David has recorded over 20 albums.

He also does this cool thing he calls, “Musical Medicine,” where he invites listeners to share what’s on their hearts and then spontaneously creates an original, one-of-a-kind song for them as a response and healing-offering. I’ve seen him blow people’s minds and bring tears of joy and relief again and again and again.

This interview gets into Dave’s process of healing, including how to listen intuitively and respond to what’s in front of you. The interview expands on the parallels between Musical Medicine and bodywork / shamanism / healing and offers insight from all 3 of us on how to be present and truly support the people who come to us for healing.

Enjoy! And may this interview be dedicated to the ending of suffering for all beings . . .

You know what you need to do. I know what I need to do today. There is a list of things that have been brewing and there is something inside ready to be revealed. September was an incredible month of change. As we emerge into October with a Full Moon eclipse and who knows (someone — not me) what else, there is a strong call to courage today.

Yesterday morning I grieved the loss of my life as it was — I am now on the road and in my old stomping ground of Durham. It is amazing to be here, now, on this adventure, and when I went to pray and sing in my friends living room it became clear that my house, temple, and physical markers of sacred space are passed on and left behind or packed. The temple is me now. Let’s be clear — it’s always me in me, and you in you, and through everything, I am just referring to the distinct experience of this as it shows up now.

The feelings are sweet (even if uncomfortable at times) as they speak to the oceans of love I have for the people and places I will miss dearly while on this journey.

I woke feeling almost dizzy with the number of things that have been un- or under-attended in this transition, and with a focus and dedication to make amends and get down to business. Such things as addressing emails that require making a decision can be quite anxiety producing for me. It’s not the decision and getting clarity part that is so hard, its the feeling of getting it wrong. This is where the THEME of THE DAY comes in.

DO IT ANYWAY!
Be a BEAST!

You have a vision — it could be simple, even mundane, or it could be a radical and big project, likely both. Today I encourage you: Deep breaths and be willing to be wrong, off, upsetting, inspiring, stimulate other people’s feelings of jealously, hurt, disappointment and risk, activating feelings of hope, love, joy, perhaps even ecstasy. I am not saying set out to have anyone else feel anything. I am saying — Do What YOU KNOW Needs to be DONE.

I had this vision of needing the beasts, big animals, specifically the wolves. There are lots of beasts so pick one (or ten) that you can connect with, today I offer the wolves. Some other beasts that resonate with the essence of the message are the Big Cats, whales, and buffalo. The planet needs these bigger beasts, the beasts that have been hunted just like the our wisdom and we need the power, the wisdom, and to take up space like them. In the theme of the day we need them, to be them. (Watch this short video that feels very important to me today.)

We need THE PACK, not the herd.

I love herding animals. Dear are often recognized as the essence of Shamanism and essential teachers. I honor and treasure the medicine of the herd. This is not an end all be all here — it’s the message I got for today, or any day when you need to Be a Beast, be The Pack that drives the herd. There are people who need our aliveness, our awareness, our knowledge, and our Showing Up and sharing our vulnerability AKA our power.

I recorded the end of singing yesterday morning to share with you all.

Courage: Being afraid and doing it anyway.

Blessing and gratitude dear powerful and changing force that is your Beast.
Mad love from the Road.
Love,

The Rising of the Wise One Council was incredible. Moving, powerful, gentle, inspiring. I am so grateful for everyone who participated. The stories of healing have been pouring in all week as people are watching the recording on their own time and/or finding words to describe what they experienced. (If you want to listen or watch the recording its still up and you are invited to do so, just sign up at this link to get instant access.)

This week is a total adventure. We are moving out of our house, putting all that we can’t fit in our car in storage, and setting out to cross the country. We don’t know where we’ll land, and we’re not planning on knowing ’til we find it.

Acknowledging and grateful tears come at every corner: thanking our bed before it moves out to its new home, giving my desk to a friend, dropping the car off for its mechanic check-up. Everything is a sign that this “idea,” this “plan,” is now, currently, presently, a reality.

I just keep thinking how beautiful my life is now — the life that has fed the courage to take off, launch a new biz model, take what we can fit in the car and finally fulfill the teen dream of driving across the country, and to some of my friends, the inevitable living in Cali I was always destined to do at some point. It feels beautiful, touching, scary, fun, exciting, and unknown.

This week I have a video for cleaning up relationships with people who have died — your recent ancestors. Parents, siblings, friends, grandparents.

This video comes at a great time. We are in the middle of the Jewish Calendar’s Holy week, which is all about owning up to your shortcomings and making amends, as well as participating as other people make amends with you.

Forgiving and being forgiven.

In my experience, that is really all that’s between you and the Beloved, God, consciousness, your soul, whatever you want to call it. Healing any relationship is an exercise in healing the one relationship we have.

Healing relationships is really helpful for having peace of mind and clarity moving forward. It always amazes me how much an old hurt can hold me and other people back.

I talk about “having it out” with your loved ones, or your hated ones for that matter. Come clean, get clean, and don’t stop till you get to the gratitude. Here’s what I offer you though, don’t force the positivity or the compassion, just stay honest and all that love and compassion stuff will come out once you’ve acknowledged the crap on top of it.

Lots of love and extra long hugs (bonus that happens a lot during transition),
Sophia Wise One

This Saturday The Rising of the Wise One Council + Birthing the New Earth is going to touch on a bunch of this, both in talk and in healing. Remember, if you can’t join me live for the free event, please still sign up and I will send you a recording of the medicine circle that you can experience on a day that works for you.

When I think about healing with ancestors I think of both blood line ancestors as well as spiritual ancestors. Your spiritual line line can be a lineage you are initiated into by a teacher connecting you to many teachers, a deep knowing that in a past life you were priestess of Brigid and you have dreams teaching you the ways of your temple, or a general sense and connection to a practice of this earth or from a dream realm. “Spiritual ancestors” is my catch all for what feels inherited in some sense that’s not clearly from your bloodline.

Big ancestors is a phrase I use in juxtaposition to recent ancestors like your grandparents, parents, uncles, or relatives that you knew this life or know by name. (Healing with them is my next video.) My “big ancestors” are all those ancestors I couldn’t name — but who know I came from.

The heart of this teaching is that you can make amends, re-establish trust, gain knowledge and learn something from these big ancestors.

Using the “I am willing to admit” exercise with an additional “I am grateful for” prompt in a simple ritual format can really work wonders for putting disgruntled feelings to rest, opening a connection, and even processing wider cultural wounds.